Author's Note: First off, I had to remove the entire fic and re-upload, as there were a lot of bugs that just wouldn't go away when I tried to edit chapters on the site, so I'm sorry about that...

Now that that's out of the way; Hi! This is my first fic, so reviews are very much encouraged (but please be nice ^3^), even if it's just to let me know you've read it!

This is based in Unova, with a mix of game and anime dynamics. Most of the characters are of my own invention, with some characters from the games/anime making minor appearances. Some aspects of the Pokemon verse have been altered, to make a little more sense ;) For example, I made some known characters a little older.

I think that's it for now, so please enjoy, and please review if you can!


Monty's dark blue eyes were wide with panic, long dark hair streaming behind her as she ran along the pavement. Narrowly avoiding a man in a suit with his eyes glued to a newspaper, the girl turned a corner opening onto a familiar square. There she stopped, breath ragged, and listened.

The trickling water of the fountain in the centre of the open space, the dull drone of people's voices, footsteps on the cobblestones beneath their feet. Monty's heart pounded in her chest, the sound of it filling her ears. Come on... Where are you?

And then she heard it.

"Growlithe! Grooooooooowl!"

She ran towards the noise, weaving through the busy square.

On the opposite side, an overly enthusiastic Growlithe barked at a boy in his late teens, jumping up and pawing at his legs, tail wagging madly.

"Quit it!" The boy attempted to push the Pokemon away, only to have it immediately return with even more fever. Black hair fell into liquid brown eyes as he backed away, a crowd of curious passerbys beginning to gather around him.

"Growl! Stop that right now!"

A girl about his own age erupted from the crowd and skidded to a stop by the Growlithe.

Immediately, the puppy Pokemon seemed to forget its uncontainable desires towards the boy, and began happily panting up at her, obviously rather pleased with himself. Face red, she turned towards the boy.

"I am so sorry," Monty apologised, horror struck. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," the boy answered shortly. He began brushing down his clothes; a dark green button up shirt, open to reveal a grey t-shirt underneath, and black denim jeans. "But you should either keep your out of control Growlithe in a Pokeball, or train it."

Swinging his backpack over one shoulder, he looked at the girl properly. She wore black tights under a little red dress, and thick soled boots that laced almost up to her knees. Around her neck was tied a tattered brown bandana.

"I said I was sorry," Monty retorted, obviously at a loss at what to say. She crossed her arms.

"Yes, and it sounded fairly well rehearsed. I'm guessing this isn't the first time your Pokemon has tried to knock someone to the ground."

"Growlithe! Growl!" Growl barked happily, tail still wagging.

The girl obviously chose to ignore his last comment. "My Growlithe is trained, for your information." It was then that she spotted the small Pokeballs attached to the boy's belt. "Wait, are you a Pokemon trainer?"

"Yeah," the boy answered, and raised an eyebrow. "Are you?"

She appeared to ponder for a moment before answering, "Yes."

It's not a complete lie, Monty thought. I've been training with Growl at least. Not for Pokemon battles exactly, but still...

"Alright." The boy brushed his fringe out of his eyes. "Do you want to have a battle then?" He suddenly seemed a little awkward.

"Umm..." Monty looked down at Growl, who looked up at her, then to the boy. His ears drooped, and his tail stopped wagging. Growl looked back up to Monty and whined. "Apparently not," she answered.

"If your Growlithe refuses to battle just use one of your other Pokemon."

"Yeah... about that..." Now it was Monty's turn to feel awkward.

"You do have other Pokemon, don't you?" Now the boy was growing impatient. He sighed. "Let me get this straight. You're a Pokemon trainer, whose only Pokemon is a Growlithe that not only refuses to battle when you're challenged, but apparently lacks even the most basic obedience training. Does that just about cover it?"

Monty flushed red. "Just wait a minute! Growl does not 'lack basic obedience training'!" She looked down at her Pokemon. "Growl, sit."

He happily panted up at her, backside wagging in the air.

"Growl, sit!" she ordered.

The Growlithe barked.

"No, that's speak, I said sit not speak! Growl!" Monty looked up to see the boy turn around and begin to walk away.

"Hey!" she exclaimed, but with a few steps he disappeared into the crowd.

Monty crossed her arms again, fuming. She took a deep breath.

"What a thoroughly unpleasant young man," she remarked mildly. She then looked back to Growl and scathed, "And thank you very much for your co-operation."

Growl promptly sat down.

Some time later, the girl and her Growlithe walked through a narrow doorway. It was situated between a bustling restaurant filled with the sound of people and the smell of cooking food, and a busy department store where expensively dressed mannequins stared at passersbys from the front window. A little bell attached to the door alerted a portly middle-aged man to their presence.

His cheery face fell when he saw them. "No! Not again, not today! Out!"

"But, Maurice -" Monty began, but was interrupted.

"I said no! Every day you come into my deli and eat my food and you never pay your bill! Enough!"

"OK, OK, I'm sorry, Maurice! Really, I am!" Monty knew this routine. "I understand if you won't serve me. But what about Growl? You wouldn't let an innocent puppy Pokemon go hungry, would you? I mean, who could resist this face?"

As Monty leaned down and slipped her hands around Growl's chest she whispered, "Do the face."

When Monty held out Growl to an unimpressed Maurice, the Pokemon's eyes were wide and filled with sadness and longing. He held the man's gaze, and added a pitiful whine for good measure. Maurice cracked.

"Oh alright, just quit with the face, would you? I might be able to whip something up for Growl. But I'm warning you two, this is the last time!"

"Great!" Monty put Growl back down. "And I'll have a sandwich too, thanks."

Growl led the way to their usual booth at the back of the tiny deli, and sat in his favourite place by the window. Monty slipped into the booth opposite and winked at him. Within moments Maurice had arrived with two sandwiches bursting with delicious meats, salads and sauces, all of his own creation.

"Thanks, Maurice!"

"Growl!"

"Yeah, yeah," he grumbled, but smiled and scratched Growl behind the ear before mussing Monty's hair. "You two are my best customers, and you never even pay. What does that say about my business, huh?" Still smiling, he shook his head and headed back into the little kitchen behind the front counter.

It wasn't until after they had both finished their meals that Monty spoke again. "What do you want to do now? We could go back to the square?"

Growl tilted his head to the side.

"No? OK then. How about we see if anything's going on at the gym?"

"Growl!" he agreed.

They said their goodbyes to Maurice and headed across town to the school, which also happened to be the Aspertia City gym. It was mid afternoon by now, and Monty could see a small crowd of high school students gathered around the battle field. She expertly climbed and vaulted over the wire fence surrounding the grounds of the gym while Growl wriggled through a small hole dug under it.

"What's going on?" she asked a girl she knew when she reached the battle field.

"Oh, hi. Cheren's got a challenger. And there's a door over there, by the way."

"I know, my way's easier." Monty disliked having to walk through the school and its grounds to get to the gym. She tried to peer over the heads of a group of taller kids in front of her. It seemed like the battle was already over. "How'd Cheren do?"

The girl winced. "Well, it was really something to watch, put it that way. I don't think I would have believed Cheren could go down like that."

"Wow..." Monty had only seen Cheren lose a handful of times, and he had always put up a fight until the end. At that moment, the group of kids in front of them moved, and Monty had a clear view of the battle field. In the centre stood Cheren, a familiar sight. 20-something, tall and always a little high-strung. But when Monty saw who was standing alongside him, she scowled.

"Growl!" Growl, on the other hand, was obviously excited. Before Monty could stop him, the Growlithe ran towards the two men.

She set off after him, and thankfully caught Growl mid jump just before he ploughed into Cheren and the boy they had met in the Square. He gave her a lick under the chin, and was content to stay in her arms.

"Oh, hello Monty," Cheren smiled. "You missed the battle."

"Ah, yeah, sorry." Monty's cheeks were pink as she turned to the boy. "Hello again," she said stiffly.

He seemed quite disinterested as he replied, "I guess that's your name then? Monty?"

Monty opened her mouth to retort, but Cheren wisely interrupted.

"I suppose you two have met? Then I'm sure you'll be happy know, Monty, that Carlyle here just won a Basic Badge." He opened his hand out to Carlyle, holding a Basic Badge. "Congratulations, it really was quite a battle."

To Monty's astonishment, Carlyle's face went pink as he gazed at Cheren's palm. "Thank you," he mumbled, and hesitantly reached out to take his badge.

Cheren smiled again as Carlyle stared at his new badge, and Monty stared at Carlyle. Growl looked at Cheren, and Cheren reached out and rubbed him behind the ear, breaking whatever spell was holding Monty's attention.

"I'm glad you're here," he said to her. "Could you please show Carlyle to the Pokemon Centre? I'm sure he'd like to have his Pokemon looked over by Nurse Joy."

"What?" The thought that she would have to spend more time with this boy certainly didn't appeal to Monty. "Why can't you ask one of your students?"

"Because I'm asking you." Cheren took her by the shoulders and turned her to face Carlyle, who was carefully slotting his badge into a badge case, but looked up when Cheren spoke again. "Carlyle, Monty has been kind enough to volunteer to show you to our city's Pokemon Centre."

He seemed very surprised. "She has?"

So was Monty. "I have?"

"Yes. Once again I want to thank you for the battle today, Carlyle." He extended his arm and shook hands with the young trainer. "You two should get going," Cheren insisted, giving Monty a little push to get her moving.

She gained her footing and looked over at Carlyle as he fell into step beside her. He was still a little pink in the face, and his eyes seemed wider and warmer than they were that morning. She looked away as he glanced over to her.

Growl still firmly in her grasp, Monty led the way through the school grounds, and through the school itself, neither her nor Carlyle speaking. It wasn't until they reached the front gates of the school that Monty let Growl down to the ground, where he trotted along behind her feet.

She couldn't stand the silence any longer. "So, I hear you really thrashed Cheren back there."

Carlyle seemed surprised. "Oh, umm... Thanks. I think."

"I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, by the way you were acting this morning. How many Badges do you have now, if you don't mind me asking?"

Carlyle flushed pink again. "Well," he seemed uncomfortable, but then he confessed. "Now, I have one, actually."

Monty stopped, causing Growl to crash into the back of her legs. She ignored him for a moment. "You mean, that was your first gym battle? How long have you been a Pokemon trainer, then?"

"About a week."

Monty blinked at him

"Growl!" Her Pokemon barked, and pushed her leg with his head. They started walking again.

"Well then," Monty was still a little stunned, "congratulations on beating Cheren so easily." Even if you were a jerk to us.

"It definitely wasn't easy," Carlyle seemed a little more relaxed now that Monty had initiated a conversation. He seemed keen to change the subject. "So I guess you know Cheren? Are you a student at the school?"

Monty shook her head. "No. Cheren arrived here soon after I left school. Then, he decided to set up a Pokemon gym there."

"So, how old are you then? If you already graduated before Cheren got here, I mean."

"I said I left school, not that I graduated," Monty didn't look at him when she said this. It was clearly not a subject she wished to discuss.

Carlyle felt awkward again. He wasn't sure what to say next, but he knew he didn't want the conservation to end like this; this was the first real conversation he had had since he left home. Not that I'm about to tell her that. "Sorry," he mumbled.

Monty turned back to face him and smiled. "It's fine, really. So, where are you from, anyway?"

The conversation grew easier the longer they walked together. Carlyle told Monty about Castelia City, and how he had travelled here with his Pokemon. He also ended up giving something akin to an apology regarding their meeting that morning. Monty, considerably more friendly after this exchange, told him about how she had grown up here in Aspertia City, and had never left, even though she often thought about it.

"Why don't you, then?" Carlyle asked when she said this.

"I don't know," Monty blushed. "I know this place, and I guess I know I'm safe here, even though I'm on my own." She was finding it difficult to put her thoughts into words.

"But, you're not so sure how you would cope in unfamiliar places?" Carlyle looked up at the sky. "Yeah, I guess I understand that. I mean, I was pretty nervous leaving home on my own, even though I had my Pokemon. I still am." Still staring at the sky, he continued, "And I'll admit, even though I do love my Pokemon, it's been nice to talk to someone who can talk back."

Monty looked away again. She understood what Carlyle meant; Growl meant the world to her, but conversation with him was hardly what she would call mentally stimulating. And most of her conversations with people were shallow and fleeting; she'd never even spoken like this with Cheren before. Carlyle looked at her again, to find her still lost in thought. The pair turned a corner, and spotted the Pokemon Centre up ahead. They stopped outside.

"Well, here you go," Monty announced awkwardly.

"Yeah, thanks." Carlyle shifted his feet.

"Good luck with everything, Carlyle," Monty smiled, and held out her hand.

"You too, Monty," Carlyle shook her hand.

Growl whimpered as he and Monty turned and began walking away.

Carlyle couldn't stop himself, "Wait!"

Monty looked back to see that Carlyle was just as surprised as she was. He seemed to recover a little, and began talking, "I know you said you didn't want to travel alone, and I don't either. So, I was just thinking maybe this was a good opportunity, you know, for both of us..."

What is he saying? Monty watched as he faltered and rubbed the back of his neck, wondering what to say next.

"Look," Carlyle sighed, "all I'm saying is, I'm leaving here in the morning, probably around 9 o'clock. If you're here, you're here. If you're not, you're not. Either way, it's up to you."

He then turned, and walked into the Pokemon Centre. Monty stood still for a moment, Carlyle's words echoing in her mind. Growl looked up at her, and when she turned and began walking away, he proudly took his rightful place by her side.